Zaccaria (later briefly operating as Mr. Game before ending production) was an Italian manufacturer of pinball and arcade machines that operated in Bologna from 1974 until 1990.[1] The factory was sold to tecnoplay.[2]
History
The company was founded as a manufacturer of pinball arcade games in Bologna by the three brothers Marino, Franco and Natale Zaccaria. The logo consists of their initials. Zaccaria was led by Marino Zaccaria, a former manager of a bar near Bologna.[2]
At their peak, Zaccaria was the third largest manufacturer of pinball machines in the world after Bally and Williams. The company also entered into the video arcade game sector in the late 1970s. They both licensed games and developed games of their own design.[2]
Zaccaria was briefly reorganized under the label Mr. Game before ending production.[1] The company Mr. Game produced pinball machines from 1988 until 1990. Under the Mr. Game label, the company introduced a radical redesign of the traditional pinball cabinet. The commonly known rectangular cabinet containing the 'playfield' was updated into a more modern look with a different shaped box, and trigger buttons for flipper control. The legs were also more angular in support compared to the mostly vertical legs used by other manufacturers. Additionally, the 'backbox' eliminated the traditional numeric or alpha-numeric score and status displays in favor of a small color TV screen, sometimes containing video game elements.[3][1][4]
After bankruptcy, the factory in Bologna of Zaccaria was sold to tecnoplay in San Marino, that produced pinball machines from 1987 - 1989 and is still in business as an importer, reseller and maintainer of pinball machines, spare parts, arcade and vending machines and other amusement games. Tecnoplay is managed by Mauro Zaccaria, the son of Marino Zaccaria, one of the founders of the company Zaccaria.[2][5][6]
There are at least 47 different Zaccaria pinball machines known to exist although some are just variations of the same game.[7]
Shooting Gallery (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac), developed by Seatongrove[18]
Jack Rabbit (1984, released in the US by Bhuzac), Zaccaria Original[19][20]
Digital recreations
Magic Pixel Kft. released Zaccaria Pinball for Android and iOS as well as Windows on Steam which provides digital recreations of classic Zaccaria pinball machines. Versions for OS X as well as Linux were released on August 31, 2017.[21] In July 2018, it was released for Nintendo Switch,[22] April 2019 for Xbox One,[23] and August 2020 for PlayStation 4.[24] The game offers 42 of the original Zaccaria pinball machines, excluding New Star's Phoenix, Queen's Castle, Ski Jump, Space City, Ten Stars, and Ten Up.
See also
Playmatic, a former Spanish company of pinball machines
Inder, another former Spanish company of pinball and arcade machines
Taito of Brazil, a former Brazilian company of pinball and arcade machines
Maresa, a former Spanish company of pinball machines
Sega, S.A. SONIC, a former Spanish company of pinball and arcade machines
